It’s very rare that you hear of new initiatives and issues taken up by mainstream Islamic organisations which are reported by the media. Muslims organising a conference on anti-Semitism? Impossible!
Alas…it did happen! And I was there to witness the recent packed event in Oslo covering the topic: Muslims and Anti-Semitism organised by the European Muslim Network.
Racism of any type (colour-based, Islamophobia or anti-Semitism) manifests itself in various ways: abuse, violence or hostility of the type leading to holocaust and genocide like Hitler’s Germany and recently in Bosnia. It could be direct or indirect discrimination like men having to shave beards or women not allowed to wear the headscarf. It could also be institutional racism as we found in the Steven Lawrence case about the police. And finally, stereotypes: where you have generalisations about particular communities based on half-truths or worse.
To what extent do Jews suffer from anti-Semitism today? This is less direct, as there are laws that protect Jews from discrimination and there are organisations that monitor this well. Whatever that does happen: to what extent are Muslims responsible for it?
Historically of course, Muslims have been the opposite. For a start, the Prophet married a Jewish woman and we are allowed to do the same. Muslims accommodated Jews at an unprecedented level – unheard of – at a time when Jews were persecuted in Europe.
But many reports state that we are apparently often anti-Semitic! The reasons can be many: we do often stereotype Jews and lump them into one. For instance, are the ‘banee Israeel’ examples in the Qur’an historical lessons from which to learn, or are they true of all Jews, at all times?
Yes, anti-Semitism is often defined too widely and of course reported very enthusiastically. Hence any criticism of Israel becomes anti-Semitism. But are all Jews Zionists?
As Muslims we must oppose anti-Semitism at all levels and make clear our stance on this regardless of how we are treated. We can do several things:
1. Stop lumping Jews into one – just as we do not want ‘Muslim’ terrorists to be linked to ourselves.
2. Must not take verses of the Qur’an out of context and understand them better.
3. Take a more nuanced approach to Zionism. We are not saying wanting a homeland is bad, but we have to see the effects of it on others.
4. Have a better understanding of Zionism and make clear that we are not talking about Jews in general when we are being critical of Israel. Repeat often as necessary that we are not anti-Semitic and that anti-Semitism is anti-Islamic.
5. Remind each other of the common values: the prophets, Jews are the People of the Book from the Muslim viewpoint.
6. Work together on common causes. Where possible, make clear that we may disagree on foreign policy but work together on the domestic side.
A person who calls himself a Jew may invade our home and persecute us, but this is that person only – and not all Jews! Even if Islamophobia persists. As Muslims, we stand for human dignity. It is not a tactic to win over hearts – but to be consistent with our principle of justice.
“Allah does not forbid you, with regard to those who do not fight you for (your) faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loves those who are just”. Qur’an 60:8
Jazakum Allahu khayran for the post. I think living in Muslim enclaves with such limited interaction with Jews can make us perceive them through media portrayals of Israel. We thereby commit the same mistake we complain about when other people describe all Muslims as terrorists.
One of the many ways of dealing with that problem is to get involved in dialogue organisations–not necessarily for dialogue, although i think that’s important, but more importantly to achieve a sound perception of the ‘other’. Going to university, or otherwise getting out of our comfort zones in an entirely Muslim environment would also be helpful.
In my experience, this has also raised the level of my discussion on the Palestine question beyond pure emotion, into the realm of real solutions.
On a different note, its interesting how criticism of any Jew or Israeli is automatically called ‘Anti-Semitic’ rather than ‘Judeophobic’ or ‘anti-Jewish’.
Semites include many Arabs and Muslims too.